Residential Education and Community Involvement join forces to reach the community

By Cathy Avila-Linn

Director, Center for Community Involvement and Service-Learning

TCU took the old adage; one man’s junk is another man’s treasure, to heart this May as it recycled gently used items donated by students. This effort, titled “TCU Trash to Treasure,” alleviated the donated items from being left behind in the residence halls (and possibly “trashed”) and distributed them to community members who can put the items to good use.

Programs like this have been coordinated by University Ministries for years. This year, Residential Services and the Center for Community Involvement and Service-Learning created a structure that allowed staff and faculty to be a part of the collection, sorting and distribution process.

The committee set out to educate students about the needs in the community and encouraged donations that directly benefit specific agencies. The beneficiaries this year included:

• The Arc of Texas, the oldest and largest nonprofit, volunteer organization in the state committed to creating opportunities for people with mental retardation and other developmental disabilities to be included in their communities and to make the choices which affect their lives
• Books for Africa, which collects, sorts, ships, and distributes books to children in Africa and works to end the book famine in Africa.
• Communities In Schools (CIS), an exemplary stay-in-school program sponsored by the Texas Legislature. CIS uses a case management model to prevent dropouts, help students stay in school, successfully learn, and prepare for life.
• Samaritan House, which works to create a supportive community providing housing and resources for positive change in the lives of persons living with HIV/AIDS and other special needs.
• Tarrant Area Food Bank, which works to eliminate hunger in Fort Worth, Texas and 13 surrounding counties by providing food, education and other resources to partner agencies and their communities.

Terence Kennedy, a TCU alum and Americorps*VISTA volunteer, coordinated the week-long event with ease. Boxes were distributed to 21 locations. Residence hall ddirectors and RAs distributed flyers, table tents, and encouraged students to donate at house meetings. More than 50 staff and faculty volunteered to pick up, sort and distribute donations. John Hernandez, manager of residential housekeeping, and his staff made numerous deliveries throughout graduation weekend until the lounge in Colby Hall was filled to the ceiling. After two and a half days of sorting, TCU donated:

• 959 pounds of food
• 203 large garbage bags full of clothes and shoes (some with the tags still on!)
• 25 bags of bed linens, pillows, curtains and throw rugs
• 34 boxes of books, each weighing 40 pounds
• 4 large bags of backpacks and purses
• 9 boxes of kitchen supplies, including pots, pans and dishes
• 4 boxes of toys
• 1 large bag of stuffed animals
• 5 boxes of baskets, bathrooms organizers and laundry baskets
• 16 boxes of miscellaneous household items, such as picture frames, mirrors, vases, sports equipment, shelf units, stereos
• 15 boxes of school, art and office supplies
• 15 bulletin/picture boards
• 20 boxes of electronics, including alarm clocks, desk lamps, blow dryers, flat irons, fans, floor lamps, printers, a Web camera, irons, an electric keyboard, vacuum cleaners
• 1 complete fish tank

Everyone who participated was in awe of the abundance TCU had to share. The success of the program is due to the staff and faculty who volunteered time and muscle in the extremely warm weather and chaotic schedule that surrounds finals week. Residential Education and Community Involvement are thankful for the wide-spread support that enabled their collaboration to be such a success. Next year, the committee hopes to recruit more TCU staff and faculty to join in.

For information on how to get involved,contact Cathy Avila-Linn (c.avila-linn@tcu.edu) or Peter Thompson (p.c.thompson@tcu.edu). Information regarding “TCU Trash To Treasure 2007” will be distributed next April.

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